Team Lilac
by LumiNoir
Summary: Candy was prepared for almost everything after she was ordered to do an individual coaching, but not this. Why was she ordered to coach an Octoling girl? Nevertheless, she was looking for a Sniper for her team, but this was still pretty weid.
1. Individual Coaching

„Candy!" The supervisor was calling after her all over Camp Triggerfish, where some teams were training.  
An Inkling girl with short, pink tentacles sighed and looked back to the group of young squids in front of her.  
"I'll be right back", she told them, put her Carbon Roller over her shoulder and moved to the guy, who called after her.  
"What's up?", she asked the older one. She sounded annoyed. "We're in the middle of training right now, talking about Burst Bombs and their usage in different situations."

"It seems like you'll have to continue this later", he answered, looking serious. "We have a special order for you."  
"Special order?", she asked. "Since when do we get special orders here?" She rolled her eyes.  
"You're going to be coaching an individual for the rest of the day. If it works out well, it will be a long-term job for you as well."

"Beg your pardon..?" she asked a bit louder than she should with a superior.  
"First: When did we start to stop lessons in the middle of the day? Second: Since when did we start doing individual coaching and third: why me?"  
Her supervisor shook his head.  
"Just follow me. I'll explain the rest later."

* * *

Walking out of the camp, Candy still had no clue what was going on. She left her Carbon Roller in the dressing rooms, since it was not allowed to use weapons outside of an Arena.  
"So what?", she asked again.  
"Listen", her supervisor began to speak in an undertone, "We got a special order, which we need to keep under wraps. You are going to take care of an individual coaching. You were recommended for this job. Also, you have enough experience with coaching, so there's nothing in the way. Besides, aren't you looking for a sniper for your team as well?"  
"Maybe?" Candy was confused.  
They stopped in front of a black van in the middle of an empty parking lot, surrounded by some very serious looking Inklings, dressed in black. They looked like some kind of guards.

Candy inspected her surroundings.  
"High security, for a super-rich Inkling who bought himself special training? Really?"  
Her supervisor was shaking his head again.  
"Not quite, just look into the van. She's in there."

When the back doors of the van were opened, Candy heard the voice of a girl, yelling angrily.  
"What is it now? I told you EVERYTHING! What else do you want to know? YOU gave me this ID, so I'm a citizen of Inkopolis! I have rights! So, tell me what this is all about, damn it!"  
Walking into the van, Candy saw a strange scene. In the back seats sat a couple more of the black-dressed guys, all holding weapons in their hands.  
Between them sat an Octoling girl, dressed in a school uniform.  
Still a red blush on her cheeks the girl kept shouting, until she noticed Candy.

Their eyes met. The Octoling stopped talking and watched the new Inkling in front of her through her glasses.  
Candy herself was also distracted. She expected anything, but not this. Perplexed she kept fixating on the yellow eyes of the girl, strangely missing the familiar look of the Inkling's mask.

"Miss Grimson?", said one of the black dressed guys to Candy, "This is going to be your new client."


	2. The First Impression

The Octarian was the first who found her voice again. With an evil eye she looked to one of the guards.  
"Are you serious? A CHILD? You've got a whole army here and you're having a CHILD take care of me?"

"I'm older than you", Candy mumbled with gritted teeth, her fist clenched. Her gaze became more serious, while looking at the girl in front of her.  
"High school uniform. You are no more than eighteen years old."  
She took a deep breath and turned around.  
"I'm sorry, but you got the wrong person for this job, I'll just be going th- "

Not able to even finish her sentence, one of the black dressed guys grabbed Candy's arm.  
"Miss Grimson, you misunderstand. We are not asking you, this is an order."  
She stopped, sighed.  
"Great", she grumbled, turning back to the Octarian.  
"Seems like we both have to deal with it now..."  
Candy reached out for the girl's hand.  
"Let's try to make the best of this situation. I'm Candy. What's your name?"

The girl turned her head away and crossed her arms.  
"That's none of your business"  
Candy sighed again.  
"Listen. We're stuck with each other; neither you nor I can end this yet. So let's get this over with together. Or we're going to stay here for the rest of the day, which would be much more annoying, don't you think?"

"Hmpf." The Octoling stood up, still ignoring Candy's hand. "As long as I am able to leave this thing..."  
Candy nodded.  
"Let's go to the camp then. I want to know where to start."  
The guy next to her finally let off her arm and she was able to leave the Van.  
She glanced to her supervisor.  
"I hope you are at least able to give her a weapon when in the camp. I wouldn't be able to check her skills without it."  
"Sure", one of the black dressed guys replied.  
"Perfect. I will be waiting at the spawn on the backside of the camp. We should be undisturbed there."

Her Carbon Roller next to her, Candy sat on the little platform beneath the spawn. On training days like today very few squids used this part of the camp. Most training groups were located to the front or the middle of the arena.  
While waiting, the she thought about what happened so far.  
Sure, an Octoling girl wouldn't be here by chance. There was more to her than meets the eye. Especially since not every Octarian that appeared in Inkopolis would get individual coaching.  
The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. Octarians were still arch enemies to Inklings. Some Inklings even doubted their existence. There was no way a whole species could be evil, or could it?

"Miss Grimson?" A men's voice interrupted her thoughts.  
Looking up, there were already some of the black-dressed guys at the spawn, each armed with a weapon.  
The Octoling Girl stood between those, a Fresh Squiffer in her hands.

Candy stood up, putting her roller on her shoulder. Looking to the group around the spawn, she replied: "Would you mind giving her some space to walk? The Spawn points are the only way to exit the camp."  
In fact, the camp was surrounded by a lake, and since neither Inkling nor Octoling were able to swim, there was no way she could escape.  
One of the men nodded and they all took two steps back, leaving some space for the girl.

"They act like you're a felon. But if you were one, you wouldn't be here. So again, my name is Candy. Would you mind telling me yours as well?" She walked in the direction of the Octoling.  
"No", she replied with a waspish voice.  
"Okay, so I'll need to think of a name for you myself."  
She stopped right in front of the Octoling.  
"But First: Show me what you got. I need to know your skills."

Like she has been waiting for this challenge, the girl grabbed her Squiffer, aiming right between Candy's eyes in less than a second. Her finger pushed the trigger, the weapon completed charging and she would be able to shoot Candy anytime now. Her glance was deadly.

Candy didn't move an inch. She just glanced back. After a few seconds of them both standing there, Candy started smiling slightly.  
What happened next was barely noticable. Candy threw a Burst Bomb on the ground, coloring it pink. At the same time, she grabbed her roller, swinging it against the Squiffer, so the shot missed her.  
The Octoling lurched to the side, hit by the surprise attack and found herself on the ground only seconds later, a Carbon Roller pushing her down.  
Pink ink dripped down on her.  
Candy grinned.  
"Guess I got a name for you. I'll call you Seahorse, 'cause you're kinda stubborn. I think it fits."  
Flicking her roller once again, she sent the girl back to the spawn, where her guards were already waiting.


	3. Seahorse

It hurt when the ink hit her. It was like her whole body was being ripped apart. Then everything went black.  
She was gasping for air, as she rematerialized out of the ink, changing from her octopus form to her humanoid form, coughing. Slowly she stood up again.  
She looked irritated. What happened? She rose her hands to see them, then touched her face, her tentacles. Everything was still in place.  
She tried to walk a few steps, but failed to keep her balance and fell down.  
Slowly she tried to stand up again, looked down and saw Candy standing next to a spot of pink ink.  
"What... why?", she yelled, "Why did you kill me and why the heck am I still alive?"

Candy had a big grin on her face, looking at the obviously confused Octarian.  
"I guess this was your first respawn, wasn't it?", she asked in a mocking tone.

Seahorse stood up in an instant, grabbing her Squiffer and aiming it at Candy, when her guards grabbed her from behind, immobilizing her.  
"DAMN IT, GET OFF ME!", she yelled again, but their grip remained.

Candy sighed.  
"Just let her go. She should calm down by herself. If you intended to make her sit around doing nothing, there's no reason why you should have brought her here."

The guards let her go after she said that. However, Seahorse grabbed her Squiffer, ran towards Candy and aimed at her again.  
Candy grabbed her Carbon Roller even tighter, taking a step back.  
"Shoot me, if you can."  
That being said, she jumped to the side, cartwheeled and sent her back to the spawn with another flick of her roller.

The Octoling was really mad now, emerging out of the Spawn's ink once more. It still hurt. Again, she took two steps forward, keeping some space between the Inkling and her. Then she shot without any warning.  
It was a headshot. Candy burst into ink, only a shadow of her clothing remaining for a second.  
Seahorse smiled contentedly, until there was a sound of dripping ink behind her. She wasn't even able to turn around properly as the roller hit her once again, sending her back to the Spawn.

"First lesson: Get used to the respawn process", Candy explained, as Seahorse appeared out of the ink again. Candy had her Carbon Roller resting on her shoulder again, standing only a few steps in front of the Spawn.  
"If you are interested, I can explain to you how it works. It should make it a bit easier for you."

"Hmpf", was all Seahorse replied with, so Candy started explaining:  
"All arenas are protected by an electric field. If anyone is injured within this field, no matter if it's via ink, water or anything else, they were sent back to a secure zone, called the Spawn, where they are able to regenerate. This ensures that no one will be harmed fighting within an arena."  
"I didn't ask for an explanation", the Octoling grumbled. "Have you considered that I already know all of this? Hm?"

Candy smiled, throwing a Burst Bomb behind her, jumping backwards to the lower area of the arena. Just before she hit the ground, she transformed into a squid and nearly disappeared in the spot of pink ink.  
"If you already knew about it, you wouldn't have reacted like you did after your first respawn."

While Candy was switching to her human form again, sitting down on the platform in the middle of the lower area, Seahorse walked to the edge right above, aiming for Candy once more.  
"I don't have the slightest clue why you are here. But I'm ordered to coach you. And I don't even know why. Respawning is essential, so it's my first lesson for you."

"Miss Grimson?", said a male voice right behind her. She jumped a bit, then turned around and found another one of the Inklings dressed in black right behind her.  
"That's it for today's coaching. We will contact you about any further actions, soon. Also, we urge you to keep strict secrecy about the whole operation."  
While he was talking, the other guards took Seahorse away.  
Candy looked at the guy in front of her.  
"Do I get any _helpful_ information by any chance?" she said angrily.  
He just shook his head.  
"You're responsible for the coaching. There is no more information that you need to know."  
He changed to his squid form, super-jumping out of Candy's sight, leaving her alone.

She sighed. How did she get into this mess..?

It was nearly impossible for Candy to relax after that day. Candy arrived at home, a small hut near Piranha pit. It was one of the former miner's quarters, some distance outside a small settlement. After putting her stuff inside, she started a small walk. The mine was so quiet at night. The air was clear as she walked near the ocean, sitting down and listening to the waves. It was a beautiful night. After sitting there for quite a while, she fell asleep under the stars.


	4. The Second Encounter

Two days later a letter arrived:

" _Dear Miss Grimson,  
_ _After examining all available information, we have come to the conclusion that you fulfill all requirements to continue coaching our client. Our primary goal is to introduce the client to Turf War matches as well as integrate her into inkling society. We still demand strict secrecy.  
_ _The next training session will take place next Wednesday. Time and location will remain the same."_

There was neither a signature, nor any other note of the sender.

She was still unsure why she was ordered to do this job, but she arrived at Camp Triggerfish on time.  
Two black dressed guys greeted her, as she arrived.  
"Miss Grimson? Please join us."  
They escorted her to the changing rooms. There were even more guards.  
"Well, I guess I can change on my own?", she asked a bit displeased, not waiting for an answer and going in one of the changing rooms. After putting her gear and her Ink Tank on, she left the room on the other side.

Camp Triggerfish was empty today. There was no Scout coaching today and the map was in an early Ranked rotation. No one would be here until tomorrow.  
Candy went to one of the registration terminals next to the spawn, typing a few things on the display. The guards were watching her, but she did not mind.  
Camp Triggerfish had a unique training program to help young squids get used to Turf Wars. And today, she would introduce it to Seahorse.

She was sitting next to the spawn, her roller lying next to her, her legs dangling on the edge to the lower area.  
Candy barely turned around as she heard the sound of ink behind her.  
"Hey, Seahorse", she said with a smile.  
The Octoling wasn't looking very pleased, spawning next to two of her guards.  
"Don't call me that."  
"Then tell me your name and I'll call you by that instead."  
Seahorse didn't reply.  
She stood up, looking at the guards.  
"We're going to practice reaction time and aiming today. Don't panic, okay?"  
Picking up her roller, she turned to Seahorse once more.  
"I want you to shoot at the targets you'll find all across the arena. It's up to you how you'll pass that test."  
Changing into her squid form, Candy super-jumped to the other spawn, leaving Seahorse alone.

"Ratbag", Seahorse mumbled, giving her guards an angry look and jumping down to the lower area.  
The Inkling had mentioned targets, but she couldn't see anything that looked like a target. What did she mean by that?  
She took a step forward, when suddenly a squid-shaped silhouette popped out of the ground.  
Reflexively she grabbed her Squiffer, shot and jumped to the side.  
Her shot missed. She looked at the thing again and realized it was just some kind of big balloon.  
She mumbled, aimed and fired again, the target bursting into a spot of ink on the ground.

"What's the point of that?", she asked, but no one replied.  
So she continued walking as two more dummies appeared in front of her. She wasn't surprised by them this time and hit each with a perfect shot.  
She also changed into her Octopus form and swim along her own ink to be faster.

As more dummies appeared in front of her, she changed back, shot them and continued her hunt, until she reached the center of the map.  
But to be honest, this was becoming boring for her.  
She looked around. There were several paths she could take.  
Seahorse finally decided to continue straight ahead, this path seemed to be the shortest and she would be able to end this training sooner.  
One shot and her ink led her over the platform on the middle to the other side. When a dummy appeared right next to her, she jumped out of the ink, shot and hit the dummy perfectly.

"Good shot", Candy commented on her hit, sitting on top of the wall right next to the Octoling, looking down on her.  
Seahorse turned around in an instant, aiming for Candy once again.  
"Your goal is over there." Candy pointed behind her, in the direction of the Spawn. The path was covered with some ink.  
"Hmpf...", Seahorse mumbled, focusing back on her training.

Only a few steps later, a much bigger dummy appeared. Seahorse grabbed a Suction Bomb, throwing it at the target before shooting. The combination of both attacks managed to burst the dummy.  
"Pretty good observation." Candy grinned. And Seahorse ignored her.  
The training was almost done. Around the corner, Seahorse saw a big sign with "GOAL" on it.  
She swam to the point, changing to her humanoid form, as two more big Dummies appeared. Two shots on each of them managed to destroy them. But at the same time her ink hit the ground, something started gleaming right in front of her.  
"Shit", she shouted, jumping back.

The Ink Mine almost missed her. Ink was all over her body, but she was still alive.  
Candy jumped in front of her, applauding.  
"That reaction was awesome. Almost everyone fails at the last trap. You really have talent."  
"I know I'm good", she responded angrily, changing into her Octopus form to regenerate from the hit.

"But I want to see your skills myself." Candy smiled. "Guess moving targets are our next training session. And since no one else is here right now, I am your target."  
Without any further warning, Candy changed into Squid form, swimming around the next corner and out of Seahorse's sight.


	5. The Hunt

Seahorse was confused. To be honest, the whole situation was strange, even just being here at Camp Triggerfish felt weird.

Changing back to her human form, she looked in the direction Candy disappeared in.  
Well, if Candy wanted a battle, she was going to have a battle.

The Octoling walked around the corner, following the path of pink ink Candy left on her way. This seemed obvious; it was probably a trap at some point. She grabbed her Squiffer even tighter. This shouldn't be that hard.  
She continued walking, until she spotted a suspicious ink spot in a corner.  
"Hm?", she mumbled, grabbing a suction bomb and throwing it at that point.  
Nothing happened. Her bomb burst and colored the area in her ink color.  
"We're not playing hide and seek", Candy called from a few meters away, standing right in Seahorse's sight.  
Seahorse aimed, shot, and missed Candy, who just jumped to the side.  
"Good reaction, but you're still too slow." she replied, disappearing in her ink again.  
"Screw you", Seahorse cursed, following her ink and continued chasing Candy.

As Seahorse walked around the next corner, she heard a sound right next to her. Turning around, she only saw Candy's roller dropping down on her.  
"Also, watch your surroundings", Candy said before the pink ink hit her, sending her back to the Spawn.  
Seahorse ignored the guards standing next to the spawning platform, as she materialized out of the ink again. As soon as she was able to move again, she sprinted back to the point where Candy splatted her.  
Her Squiffer fully charged, Seahorse went around the corner again, turning around, but Candy wasn't here anymore. She sighed. That girl was making fun of her. She looked around again, trying to spot Candy. There was still a lot of pink ink on the ground, the Inkling could be hiding anywhere in it, just waiting for the chance to splat her again.  
Seahorse released her shot in one direction, throwing a Suction Bomb in another corner, trying to cover as much turf as possible.  
"As I said, I'm not hiding", Candy replied, standing right behind her.  
Seahorse aimed at her, shooting at Candy.  
She hit her, but realized too late her ink tank was empty.  
"Too bad, that shot was pretty good", Candy said, throwing a Burst Bomb and flicking her roller right after it, so Seahorse got splatted again.

This was even worse than the training before. Seahorse still tried to ignore the guards at the spawn, but she thought she heard them laughing.  
Again, she sprinted back to her previous location, trying to track down Candy.  
But again, she wasn't there anymore.  
Seahorse looked around, there was some ink that probably wasn't there before, but she was not sure about it. But it was her only hint, and the area was too big to search alone. So she had to follow that lure.  
She soon saw Candy sitting on an edge, watching the area where Seahorse appeared.  
"One more thing: Try taking advantage of the strengths of your weapon. You're pretty good, but you still need to get some experience in combat."  
Seahorse mumbled something, and then shot in Candy's direction. But the Inkling just let herself fall backwards, dodging the shot.  
"Not bad, but still too obvious", Candy replied from below her.  
Seahorse was getting angry now. She walked in the direction of Candy, throwing a Suction Bomb towards her. But she missed the platform below her, and her bomb fell into the water.  
Candy had inked the ground around her in the meantime, using this to her advantage.  
"And never let your guard down", she said, before swimming up the wall and splatting Seahorse with another double-flick of her roller.

The Octoling cursed, as she reached the Spawn once more. This time she turned around and looked at the guards. Lucky for them, they weren't laughing or even smiling, otherwise Seahorse wasn't sure if she would have been able to hold herself back.  
She jumped down to the main path of the arena, shooting herself an ink path and swimming back to where she was splatted. Swimming was much faster than walking and she was sure – Candy was still at the same place.

Indeed, Candy stood openly in the middle of the area, waiting for Seahorse to approach. As the Octoling emerged out of the ink, just a few meters in front of her, she sighed.  
"Your weapon is a charger. You should maybe try to use its range to your advantage. Although you're pretty good, I will still have an advantage in close combat."  
Seahorse grumbled something, looking at Candy with an almost deadly glance. This time, she had a plan.

Seahorse grabbed her Squiffer, shooting in Candy's direction once and missed her. But this one shot was the last bit of ink she needed to complete her Special attack.  
As Candy dodged the shot, Seahorse turned into a huge octopus, swimming in her direction and splatting the surprised Inkling.

Candy smiled as she rejoined Seahorse after a few moments.  
"That was an awesome move", she praised the Octoling. "And you managed to splat me, so you passed this training as well. Congratulations."  
But Seahorse just stared at her in disbelief.  
"Really?", she asked, being pretty angry. "You're making fun of me. You splatted me three times in a row, playing around with me like I am a little toy and now you're saying I have passed the training?"  
Her voice grew louder.  
"Telling me all the time that I am doing well. Are you making fun of me?"  
Now Candy was confused. She looked at the girl in front of her, putting her roller down and taking a step towards her.  
"No, not at all", she replied. "Why should I make fun of you?"  
Candy still looked at the Octoling, who now had tears in her eyes.  
"Because everyone does. I am not good, so stop lying to me."  
Candy walked closer.  
"I am not lying, why should I? You are a skilled player. Yes, you are not perfect yet. You are still making lots of mistakes, but you are indeed good. Trust me."  
Seahorse's eyes went wide. "R-really?", she asked.  
"Yep", Candy replied, smiling.


	6. Melting Ice and Bumpy Roads

Candy sat down on the ground next to Seahorse.  
"I'd like to analyze this training with you real quick, okay?" She pointed at the ground next to her, offering Seahorse to sat down.  
And so she did, sitting down with crossed legs, her Squiffer resting on her lap.

"I noticed you were playing pretty offensively. Trying to attack me straight on, which made it pretty easy for me to avoid being splatted by you and get you instead."  
Candy pointed at one of the walls around the center of the stage.  
"I'm not a big expert when it comes to Chargers, but most tend to camp on top of these walls to avoid being splatted by short range weapons. Sure, you still need to be careful, since a Slosher or a Squelcher can still get you pretty easy, but it's worth a thought for your play style."  
Seahorse was shaking her head.  
"I don't want to be a coward hiding somewhere", she replied.  
Candy laughed.  
"Good thing you haven't picked an E-Liter"

Seahorse gave her a confused look.  
"Well, to survive in close quarters as an E-Liter you have to be really, really good. There are a few S+ players that are able to do that, but it's almost impossible. Your Squiffer is a pretty good pick to be agile. You can still outrange some weapons, but are also able to act fast if someone manages to get close to you."  
The Octoling nodded.  
Candy smiled.  
"You will get a feeling for your range pretty soon. Well, you already have a good feeling for it, to be honest. Considering you're a beginner, you are damn good with the Squiffer. It was definetely a good choice of weapon for you."

Again, Seahose got tears in her eyes, turning away a bit.  
"Guess I have something in my eye...", she replied quietly, trying to hide the fact she was almost crying.

Candy paused for a moment, then looked back at her.  
"If you have any more questions or anything you want to talk about, please tell me."  
The Inkling looked up, as she got a notification on her gamepad. She grabbed it, checked it and sighed.  
"Guess our training for today is over...", she said, slowly standing up again.  
"Your 'guards' just informed me we should head back to the spawn immediately."

"Really?", Seahorse asked and looked back at Candy, still some tears remaining in her eyes.  
"Looks like... But guess we can't do anything about that, we don't want them to get angry, do we?"  
She offered her hand to help Seahorse up; the girl refused to take it and stood up on her own.  
"I hope we can have the next training soon", Candy replied, as two guards closed up to them, escorting Seahorse back to their spawn.  
The Octoling looked back at Candy once more, smiling a bit.  
"Thank you", was her last reply, before they walked around the next corner out of Candy's sight.

As Candy picked up her roller from the ground, she also smiled.  
Maybe this Octoling was indeed a good option for her team. She seemed to be a pretty nice person, and had potential to become a pretty good sniper.  
There was only one problem: her guards. Candy still didn't know what their plans were. They talked about integration. Maybe it was a good idea to mention that to them.  
She quickly superjumped back to her spawn, leaving the stage and trying to catch up with one of the guards before they left.  
Finally, she saw one of them, and walked towards him.  
"Hey, can I talk to you real quick?"

* * *

After seahorse finished changing, she was escorted back to the black van, guards on both sides of her.  
She disliked being treated like a criminal, especially since she wasn't one. But they refused to listen to her. Always saying it was necessary.

She sat down in the van again, not knowing where they were driving, the usual amount of armed guards around her.

She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the guys around her, hoping she was back in the small room they gave her soon.  
She heard the car starting, beginning to move. They should be there after a while.  
Suddenly the car started shaking; she was thrown against the inside wall.  
Someone screamed.  
They turned upside down.  
Her head bumped against something.  
Then everything went black.

* * *

When she woke up, her head hurt.  
"W-what happened?", she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. It was much brighter than normal in the van.  
She blinked, looking around.  
The van was turned upside down. Two guards still inside were unconscious, the backdoor was open. She saw another person lying outside in the grass.  
"Oh shit", she swore, trying to stand up, but falling over. Her hand touched something cold, feeling like metal. As she looked at it she noticed it was a weapon. And it was loaded.


	7. The Test

Seahorse stared at the weapon for a second, then shrunk back, sitting down again.  
This was bad.  
"H-hello?", she called out carefully. No reaction.  
"Hello? Anyone?", she called louder, still no reaction. The guards she saw were still unconscious. Probably not dead, but obviously hurt.  
Carefully, she stood up again, putting her glasses back in place. What should she do?

She looked back at the weapon in front of her. A Hero shot, one of the weapons of the guards. One of those they were keeping ready all the time, pointing at her when she was getting louder, or wasn't listening.  
She stooped down, carefully picking the weapon up.  
She had a weapon now.  
All guards seemed to be unconscious.  
She could just grab an ink tank and run away.  
There would be no one to stop her.  
No one to threaten her, no one to order her around.  
Escaping would be so easy right now.  
And then? What would happen after she ran away?

Seahorse shook her head. That was a silly plan. She would be on her own as soon as she left this place. And probably chased by the guards again. Probably wouldn't be allowed to do anything after they caught her again.  
She thought back at the training. Candy was the first person really encouraging her. The first person to ever see potential in her. This was an opportunity she didn't want to waste. And slowly she realized that she would waste it if she ran away now.  
She definitely had to help them.

Putting the weapon back down, she looked around once more, then carefully climbed out of the car.  
They were in the middle of nowhere. The van lay on an open field a few meters away from the road, there was not a single building nearby.  
"Is there anyone there?", she called again.  
No reaction.  
She looked around closer. There was definitely no one around who could help her. She was the only one still conscious.  
"Shit...", she mumbled, trying to remember some first aid, but wasn't able to recall anything that would help her.  
And slowly she started panicking.

"Shit, shit, shit...", she mumbled, walking around the field, looking around.  
"I.. have to help them, but... how?"  
Seahorse walked to one of the guards lying on the fields, kneeing down next to him, afraid of touching him at all.  
"Wake up... please... I... don't know what to do... I... need help..."  
Her eyes started to fill with tears. She was totally helpless. And worse, if _she_ won't do anything, they all could die.  
"Why did that happen?", she asked herself.  
No, panicking was no option right now, she had to do something.

Slowly, Seahorse stood back up, wiping her tears away. There must be something she could do. She needed to get help.  
"A phone..."  
That was the idea. As soon as she had a phone, she could try to call for help.  
Again, she looked around, searching for something that looked like a phone, maybe even a radio set or something. And finally spotted a SquidPod in the van.

Carefully, she picked up the device. The screen was broken, but it looked like it was still working.  
Her hands were shaking while she was holding the device and tried to unlock it, without success.  
"shit...", she mumbled again.  
Then she spotted a little icon on the bottom of the screen, half covered by the crack in the glass. It said 'Emergency Call'.  
Her hands still shaking, she touched the button, confirming her action on the next screen, bringing the device up her ear.  
It rang.  
She sighed in relief.  
Then someone picked up the call.  
"Emergency center of Inkopolis. How can..."

Seahorse interrupted the person on the other side, speaking fast, her voice trembling.  
"We had a car crash. I don't know where we are, but everyone is unconscious. I don't know what to do, we need help!"

Then, there was a hand on her shoulder. She was so startled, she dropped the device. Panicking again, she slowly turned around, facing one of the guards standing right behind her.  
"Y-you're awake...", she mumbled, almost crying again. "we...we... have to help... they're... the car crash... I... don't know..."  
"Don't worry, everyone's okay", the guard replied, looking at Seahorse, smiling a bit. "No one was hurt, and you passed the test."  
She looked at him in unbelief, realizing what he just said.  
"A... test?"  
The Guard nodded.  
"We wanted to make sure you won't run away as soon as you had the option to do so."  
"Really?", she looked at him, her face getting angrier. "You... faked that all?"  
He nodded.  
"Yeah. And it was a success. We're ready for the next part of your integration now. You will go to school, starting next week."


	8. Twin Squad

As usual, Candy arrived at the plaza early. It was early afternoon and the map rotation just changed. Splat Zones were scheduled for ranked matches for the next few hours, twin squads only. A perfect opportunity for her to stay in training.  
As she walked towards the tower, she already spotted a familiar face joining her from the other side of the plaza, smiling and waving at her.

"Hey Candy, you're on time as ever", called the male inkling.  
He was in his mid-twenties, with blue tentacles, wearing a Jet Cap, Shirt and Tie and Squink Wingtips.  
"You too, Robyn", she answered, also smiling at him, hugging him briefly as he stopped in front of her.  
He returned the hug.  
"Glad you made it. We haven't played twin squad in a few days, how's your job going?"  
"Good", she answered, smiling. "I was a bit busy during the last few days, think a few matches are a nice change for now"  
"Exactly what I thought" Robyn let go of her, slowly walking towards the tower again.

They logged in at the counter for ranked matches, before grabbing their weapons and joining the still empty lobby.  
"Oh, looks like we're the first", Robyn said, still smiling.  
"Yeah", Candy replied. "By the way, you mentioned you may have found a sniper for our team?"  
He nodded.  
"Met a nice girl in a turf war match a few days ago. Kelp Splatterscope player, she's pretty good, although her set was a bit strange for a sniper..."  
He giggled.  
"Don't know if she is an option, probably have to ask her about that soon, I've added her to my friend list."

Candy nodded, speaking quieter.  
"I may have another option as well, still need to clarify some things about that."  
"Oh?" Robyn looked at her a bit surprised.  
"Yeah", she answered, "Someone I met at the camp. But still not sure about it, I'll tell you more as soon as I know _if_ it's an option or not."  
"Okay", he said, smiling again, looking up as he noticed two other Inklings joining them, a female wearing a Squid Nordic, carrying a Berry Splattershot Pro and a male with a Gas Mask and a L-3 Nozzlenose.  
"Looks like the lobby is filling up", he said, watching the two.

The female was patting the males back, quietly talking to him, before she looked up, noticing Candy and Robyn.  
"Oh look, another couple is already here!"  
Robyn smiled. "Oh, you're here for twin squad?"  
The girl nodded. "Yes. We're going to do a few matches. Don't worry about grumpy squid here, he just had a bad day. His name is Dason, I'm Valentina"  
"Yeah, a few good matches probably will help then", Robyn answered, still smiling. "I'm Robyn and there's my squad partner, Candy"  
Candy also looked up, noticing a few other players joining from a previous match.  
"Guess the match schould start soon."

They all stepped on the transporting points, spawning at the map just a few moments later.  
It was Blackbelly Skatepark and their ink color was green.  
Robyn held his Custom Splattershot Junior close, looking around, spotting the two Inklings they just talked to next to them.  
"Oh nice, we're even on the same team"  
"We should work out a plan", Candy suggested, looking at them. "You want to go for the close or the far zone first?"

Valentina looked at them with a confident face: "You two go for the zones, me and Dason will take care of the opponents"  
Dason nodded.  
Robin grinned. "Good. Tell us if you need any help, I'll give you a few echolocators during the match."  
Then he turned towards Candy: "You're focusing on the far zone?"  
She also nodded.

As the match started, they all headed to the center using different paths to make it harder for the enemy team to splat them. The other team – with a purple ink color - was already in position, inking both zones at the same time, an E-liter camping on the center tower, aiming for the incoming Inklings.  
Robyn ducked behind a wall as soon as he noticed the sniper, avoiding the shot, Candy getting splatted pretty easily. While the other two were heading to the center, he waited for her to return, inking some turf and filling up his special attack, activating it about the same time Candy superjumped back to him. He gave her a questioning look as she returned, then continued moving closer to the center.

Thanks to the echolocator, Valentina and Dason managed to take out two players fo the enemy team pretty easily, cornering the E-liter and getting him off his position, before splatting him as well.  
"They're not bad", Robyn mumbled, nodding to the zones and jumping down on the closer one, throwing a disruptor at a suspicious spot of enemy ink, instantly hitting the last hiding enemy player with it, splatting him a second later.  
"Wipeout! The zones, Candy!", he called out for her, inking his own zone as fast as possible.  
Candy nodded, running towards the other zone, flicking her roller to cover a good part of it, followed by two burst bombs, which took the zone for their team, the counter starting to tick down.


	9. Twin Squad (pt 2)

Valentina seemed to cover a good portion of turf near the center with a suction bomb rush in the meantime, her and Dason waiting for the enemy team to respawn and attack. They covered the main path close to the center, her distracting everyone who tried to break through, him sneaking around in the ink, surprising every enemy team player that she missed.  
They got both zones. The counter was going down.  
Robyn was pretty undisturbed, inking the area around the zone to fill up his special again, but still watching out for any enemy getting near his turf.  
Candy did the same, but spotted the E-liter, who climbed up to the platform on the side a second too late, as he aimed at her and easily splatted her.

A bit irritated that the counter stopped, Robyn turned around, checking his zone, which was still completely covered in green.  
"Candy...", he mumbled, activating his echolocator again and indeed noticing two people at their zone.  
A second later, a killer wail hit that area, both signals disappearing.  
Robyn grinned, sending a "nice!" via his gamepad. The two were really doing a great job.

"Damn", Candy mumbled as she returned to the center, trying to get her zone back.  
The enemy team seemed to be pushing more now and broke through the defense line of Dason and Valentina as well.  
Robyn abandoned his zone as soon as he noticed what was going on, heading onto the tower and supporting Candy, who managed to take the Gal out, who was heading straight towards her and the zone.

The E-liter got back into position on the little wall close to the center, firing a shot towards Robyn, then at Candy, missing Robyn, but hitting Candy as she completely failed to dodge the shot. She threw a burst bomb in his direction, trying to get him off his position, as he activated his Kraken special and attacked her with that.  
She flicked her roller as fast as possible, barely managing to hold him back until he transformed back.  
A disruptor thrown by Robyn hit him, before Candy's next flick with her roller splatted him.  
"Thanks!", she called up to her teammate, who just nodded, turning around and focusing back on the zone on his side, which was about to be covered by an inkstrike, with an Inkbrush player sneaking closer to the zone through the side path as well.

Luckily, Dason and Valentina joined them now as well, trying to push the enemy team back and getting both zones covered again, but this was getting more difficult, especially after Candy traded splats with an enemy team's player and needed some time to got back to her zone.  
They played good, but the purple team wasn't bad as well.  
As they finally managed to get both zones back and the counter started going down again, the match ended.

They had a pretty good lead, the match was definitely won.  
"Good match!", Robyn called out to Dason and Valentina as they walked past him towards the spawn. He looked for Candy, finding her close to her zone still, slowly walking back as well.  
"You didn't do very well, what's wrong?", he asked her, looking a bit worried.  
Candy looked down.  
"I'm sorry.. looks like I still have too much stuff on my mind", she answered, sighing.  
Robyn moved closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.  
"Anything you want to talk about?"

Candy shook her head.  
"Work... has been pretty exhausting during the last days."  
"Okay", he answered quietly, walking back to the spawn next to her. "Tell me if there's anything you want to talk about. You want to do a few more matches or quit for today?"  
"I don't know... better to quit for today", she mumbled. "I'm sorry, but I'm probably not going to do well during the next few matches either."  
"It's okay, Can", Robyn said with a smile as they reached their spawn, returning to the lobby.

He stretched, adjusting his cap, looking back at her.  
"Think I'll do a few more turf matches then. Guess you won't join them either?"  
Candy shook her head.  
"I'm probably heading home and trying to relax a bit. I need to clear my mind. Maybe we can join the next twin squad rotation"  
He nodded. "Or we find a sniper in the meantime and can start with our team training"  
"Yeah, we can text about that", she answered before heading to the changing rooms and storing her weapon away.

She knew she wasn't doing well during the match and that they could have won way easier if she had focused more. But Candy was still thinking about what happened during the last few days, especially about the request she told that one guard.  
She still hadn't got an answer.  
Seahorse had potential to be a really good sniper. She would be perfect for their team. And it would be great training for her to join at least a few normal matches.

As she returned home, she found a letter in her mailbox.  
As she opened it, it was only two sentences.

 _"We're going to follow your request and see if it's working. Regular time next_ wednesday."

She smiled, grabbing her SquidPod, sending a short message to a group named 'Team Lilac':  
Candy: "We're going to have team training next wednesday. Hope you two can join."


End file.
